Suspects in robbery of Cirilla’s arrested in Wichita

Police said Monday that a man and a woman who were arrested after a robbery last weekend in Wichita are possible suspects in last Thursday’s armed robbery at Cirilla’s in Lawrence.

Tom Stolz, a Wichita deputy police chief, said officers there arrested the two suspects after a robbery at a Wichita Subway restaurant and that they were suspected of committing two other recent robberies in Topeka and the one in Lawrence.

Lawrence police Sgt. Michael Monroe said in a statement Monday that Wichita police contacted local investigators late Saturday about the two suspects.

The suspects, a 22-year-old woman from Topeka and a 26-year-old man, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery, according to Sedgwick County Jail records. The Journal-World generally does not identify suspects unless they are formally charged.

The woman was also booked on charges of reckless driving and eluding police because a vehicle chase after the robbery ended in Butler County. The male suspect was booked on a Shawnee County warrant and a felon in possession of a firearm charge.

In the Lawrence robbery, police said officers were called about 3:15 p.m. Thursday to the adult store, 1206 W. 23rd St., about a panic alarm.

When they arrived, a female employee said a man with a handgun and a woman who did not display a weapon entered the store. No one was injured, but the employee alleged the male suspect took an undetermined amount of cash and the woman grabbed merchandise.

Stolz said investigators plan to present information to federal prosecutors for a possible indictment in the case, and a Sedgwick County district attorney’s office spokeswoman said in light of that, county prosecutors were not scheduled to review the case.

Stolz also said it’s possible the duo were involved in other robberies.